In optical systems involving the generation and controlled radiation of long or continuous pulses of light, such as spectroscopy, or solar simulation, where high intensity, color correct illumination of sensitive working areas is required, such as in fiber optics illumination devices, it is advantageous to have a light source capable of producing the highest possible light flux density. Products utilized in such applications include short arc inert gas lamps, which may also be referred to as arc lamps. At least one arc lamp includes a sealed chamber containing a gas pressurized to several atmospheres, and an opposed anode and cathode defining an arc gap. A reflector body may be positioned surrounding the arc gap. A window provides for the transmission of the generated light.
One existing technique to mount the window to the arc lamp is to use a window flange and a support flange. FIG. 1A shows a cross-section view of an existing arc lamp having a window mounted using this technique. The portion of the arc lamp 100 illustrated in FIG. 1A includes a reflector body 110, a window frame ring 120, a window 130, a strut wing 140, a window flange 150, a support flange 160, a support ring 170, and a cathode 180. The reflector body 110 defines a cavity in which an anode and a cathode are positioned. The reflector body 110 has a rim 112. The rim 112, having an inner diameter and an outer diameter, defines a circular opening. Likewise, the support ring 170, having an inner diameter and an outer diameter, defines another opening.
To assemble the arc lamp 100, the support ring 170 is placed on top of the rim 112. The support ring 170 holds the strut wing 140, which is part of a strut assembly that holds the cathode 180 and suspends the cathode 180 through the opening defined by the rim 112 of the reflector body 110. The strut wing 140 may be brazed to the support ring 170.
As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the inner diameter of the support ring 170 is smaller than the inner diameter of the rim 112. Therefore, the support ring 170 projects into the light path of the light generated by the cathode and anode in the cavity defined by the reflector body 110, which goes through the opening defined by the rim 112. Consequently, the support ring 170 adversely affects the performance of the arc lamp 100.
The support flange 160 is brazed to the support ring 170 at the surface 162. Furthermore, the support flange 160 is coupled to the window frame ring 120 at the surface 164, typically by tungsten welding. The support flange 160 is brazed to the window flange 150 at the surface 166. The window flange 150 has a first end 152 and a second end 154. The first end 152 is coupled to a portion of the support ring 170 that extends beyond the rim 112 of the reflector body 110. The second end 154 of the window flange 150 holds the window 130.
FIG. 1B shows another cross-section view of the arc lamp described above. The corresponding components of the arc lamp 100 are marked with the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1A.
The above technique uses a lot of supporting parts, including the support flange 160, the support ring 170, and the window flange 150, to mount the window 130 and the strut wing 140. Furthermore, the above technique employs three or more brazing operations to braze together the window flange 150 and the support flange 160, the support flange 160 and the support ring 170, as well as the support ring 170 and the strut wing 140. As a result, the above technique is very complex and expensive.